The Metropolitan Opera’s former Music Director, James Levine, has died at the age of 77. Levine, whose career with the company ended in disgrace after an investigation found evidence the conductor had engaged in “sexually abusive and harassing conduct” during his tenure, died on 9 March at Palm Springs in California. His death was announced yesterday. His physician Dr Len Horovitz said he died of natural causes.

James Levine (1943–2021)

“The Metropolitan Opera honors the memory of former Music Director James Levine, who held the musical reins of the company for four-and-a-half decades,” the Met said in a statement.

According to the Met, Levine conducted more than 2,500 performances of 85 different operas for the company, beginning with Tosca in 1971. He became Principal Conductor in 1973 and Music Director in 1976, founding the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 1980. In 2016 it was announced that Levine would retire at the end of the season due to health reasons as a result of his advancing Parkinson’s disease, and he was named Music Director Emeritus from 2017.

The Met suspended its relationship with Levine at the end of 2017, however, after...